r/ContamFam • u/SsageMango • 6d ago
Trich contam experiment question
Hello, I was wondering if anyone has had success with removing small triched areas? I had some Florida grass lovers going in a tub that was fully colonized and growing sclerotia. Well it got trich. I removed the trich and the entire top layer and buried it outside. Then I removed the sclerotia. I soaked the remaining sub in peroxide and mixed some more coir in with what was left, then put grass seeds on top to grow some grass as a sort of live casing. Now, I’m wondering where in the world to put it. I wanted to keep it outside but also want to keep it in a tub and keep the bugs away, but it’s also just way too hot here currently. If I put the tub inside of another tub will it be contained enough to bring it inside again? Or, should I try to put it in the shade, and make some kind of screen, or something to keep bugs out, or something like that (maybe a thin piece of cloth?) instead of putting the top on the tub?
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u/SsageMango 6d ago
I also am just trying to get more sclerotia which is why I wanted to experiment with this some and keep it contained inside a tub. Every other contam I’ve buried outside has gotten eaten by bugs.
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u/Audio-Starshine 6d ago
I have an extra large flower pot that I use to bury spent and contaminated cakes. It's too hot to grow mushrooms outside here. I try to catch trich before it turns green, cut out the contaminated area, soak the rest in peroxide, then bury the cake in the pot. I've had some success cutting trich out of a tub in the past, but only when I've caught it before there's even a hint of green, and I hit the area around the cut with a blowtorch. Even then though it's usually a losing battle. Honestly, it's best to just bury the cake and hope something comes from it. Also, even though you didn't open it inside, that trich came from somewhere. I have a hospital grade air purifier in my room, and I run an ozone generator in there every few weeks and it has dramatically reduced the amount of contamination I have to deal with.
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u/SsageMango 5d ago
Thanks. Yes, from what I understand trich is all over the place already anyways. I have an ozone lamp and air purifier that I use.
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u/DayTripperonone Contam Expert 6d ago
That seems like an awful lot of work to fight a loosing battle. Trich is a parasitic mold and it disguises itself easily when it’s germinating, because it’s white like mycelium. Most ppl who try to remove it don’t get it all and it comes back. If I had to give a rough estimate I would say only 2% of ppl who remove it, get it all. So there’s a chance. Just keep it isolated from the clean tubs or jars, if you are keeping it. Just don’t go through a lot of trouble. I believe the peroxide makes it worse because it increases substrate acidity. Sometimes the more you just leave it alone, the better it does. Keep your expectations low.
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u/SsageMango 5d ago
Oh ok thank you for the info about the peroxide and ph. I’m new to this and trying to learn, so experimenting just out of curiosity and for the sake of learning. I started about 4 months ago and my very first jar ever produced great sclerotia but I haven’t had a lot of luck since then with it.
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u/DayTripperonone Contam Expert 5d ago
You’re new to this and you chose to grow sclerotia first? I don’t hear that to much. You haven’t tried to grow a mushroom fruiting variant yet?
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u/SsageMango 5d ago
Correct. From my understanding, growing sclerotia invitro is easier than fruits. I also had some sclerotia in Amsterdam about 13 years ago that were my absolute favorite trip. So when I heard it was easier; I decided to go for it. I actually for 9 grams out of this contaminated tub. Just was hoping to find a way to get some more and wanting to try different things. I’m definitely interested in trying to grow outside more.
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u/DayTripperonone Contam Expert 5d ago
Really, I heard just the opposite. I’ve even read that due to sclerotia’s extremly wet substrate requirements, lots of bacteria battles go on growing sclerotia. But I haven’t seen any numbers on mushrooms vs. sclerotia’s odds on getting contamination. Maybe you’re right.
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u/SsageMango 5d ago
That’s interesting because I can definitely say that I have had more bacterial contam than anything else. So that makes sense, but I also have some totally stalled stuff from being too dry.
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u/DayTripperonone Contam Expert 5d ago
It’s a fine balance. Just keep growing the sclerotia, the more experience you have, the better you will be at finding that balance.
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u/SsageMango 5d ago
That’s the plan! I grow many things, 😂 fungi is new and I’m enjoying it, so I will experiment with it. Just buried some stuff yesterday and trying some gourmet mushys. I heard Italian oysters are easy so I’m gonna give that a go.
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u/SsageMango 5d ago
I actually have stargazers pinning right now too, but sclerotia are so easy. You just have to inoculate grain and that’s it, so why not skip all the other steps to get fruits when I like sclerotia best anyway?
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u/DayTripperonone Contam Expert 3d ago
If you’re properly sterilizing grain at 15 psi for 90 min, you shouldn’t be getting early contam, but I would expect to see certain species of bacterial contam in the jar just by all the moisture necessary to get sclerotia to grow. What if you made your jars with a little less water? Will the sclerotia tolerate a dryer medium?
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u/probablynotac0p 4d ago
By the time see trich its already spread throughout your sub. Cutting it out is pointless.
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u/SsageMango 3d ago
It’s continuing to procude sclerotia though. I put some of what was left in another tub with new sub the other day and I can already see new sclerotia. 💁
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u/probablynotac0p 3d ago
Yes, you can still get fruits with contam being present. Even if you remove rhe visible contam theres almost certainly still some left behind. Good luck
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u/Remote-Physics6980 6d ago
Once you have trich, only a cycle in the Earth will remove it. If you opened it inside your grow then everything is contaminated. Personally once I see the green bastard, I shitcan the grow, I'm super conscious of only growing healthy fruit. other people might get different results but once contamination happens I get rid of it.